Corporate Responsibility

At British Airways, we work hard to manage our business responsibly, be a good neighbour, reduce our environmental impact and celebrate diversity.

We are committed to fight human and wildlife trafficking.

We operate our aircraft with sensitivity to noise and air quality and engage with the community on these issues. To tackle climate change we are investing in sustainable fuel solutions, flying efficiently to reduce fuel consumption, supporting global regulation, modernising our fleet and reducing waste and increasing recycling.

We ensure we run a safe and comfortable operation for our customers, continually invest in our aircraft and facilities and offer additional help to those who require it.

We look after our colleagues, encouraging their physical and mental well-being, creating an inclusive culture and developing initiatives to create a more diverse workforce.

Our Community Investment programme has helped more than 600,000 people since 2010, in the UK and overseas, and provided much needed support and funding to charities during humanitarian crises.

We offer hundreds of work experience placements and apprenticeships every year.

Ethics and Integrity

Everyone working for us is expected to act with integrity, in accordance with company policies and in compliance of the laws of the countries where they work. Our suppliers are bound by the terms of the IAG Supplier Code of Conduct which requires them to:

Act with honest and integrity.

Provide a safe working environment where employees are treated with dignity and respect.

Seek to minimise and reduce our impact on the environment.

Provide supply chain transparency and improve supply chain standards.

Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery

British Airways supports tackling human trafficking. Our cabin and flight crew have the most exposure to potential trafficking situations and are trained to spot incidents.

We are committed to operate in an environmentally responsible manner, helping the aviation industry to achieve sustainable growth and contributing to the IAG vision to be the leading airline group on sustainability.

Climate change is the most urgent environmental challenge facing the aviation industry and British Airways is determined to find solutions to address carbon emissions.

Sustainable fuels

We have partnered with Velocys, a renewable fuels company, to design a series of waste plants that convert household waste into renewable jet fuel to power our fleet. Through this project, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of household waste per year, destined for landfill or incineration, will be converted into clean-burning sustainable fuels.

Fuel-saving initiatives

Our dedicated fuel efficiency team continually reviews all aspects of our operation and ensure that fuel saving ideas become reality. Often small changes make a big difference.

We have lowered our CO2 emissions by more than 360,000 tonnes since 2014 by reducing the number of engines our aircraft use to taxi, optimising flight routes, and decreasing the weight of our aircraft by various initiatives, including printing our in-flight magazine on lighter paper and using technology to replace printed charts on the flight deck. We have also increased the number of times we wash our aircraft engines, as we know this makes them work more efficiently.

We are continuing to use innovation to build on our successes, developing new in-flight software to ensure that in the future we fly in the most sustainable and efficient way possible.

Aircraft investment

Our Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner are designed to reduce carbon emissions per customer. The A380 is the world’s largest passenger aircraft, with 16 per cent less emissions per seat than the aircraft it replaces. The Boeing 787 is 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than the aircraft it replaces. Between now and 2022, British Airways will introduce 72 new and more fuel-efficient aircraft, including the Airbus A350, the Boeing 787-10 and the Airbus A320neo, bringing further environmental benefits.

Customer Carbon Fund

Customers can help us reduce the impact of climate change by donating to the Carbon Fund when they book flights with us. The Carbon Fund provides funding for community renewable energy projects in the UK and overseas. British Airways customers have supported more than 37 projects so far, impacting the lives of 250,000 people and resulting in community benefits of over £2 million. From schools in the UK to sustainable agriculture projects in Kenya, the projects provide vital support to local communities and reduce carbon emissions.

The funds are managed by Pure Leapfrog, a not-for-profit charity working to provide opportunities for communities to own, generate and benefit from clean, green power. Examples include promoting the use of solar-powered heating and lighting, installing small scale wind turbines for schools and promoting energy efficient measures such as LED lighting.

The following are two of the most recent projects that the British Airways Carbon Fund has supported.

Carbon Fund example 1: Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Laikipia County, Kenya

Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya is a wildlife conservation and community reinvestment programme. Its aim is to improve the livelihoods of rural communities. Most of the communities around Ol Pejeta are not connected to mains electricity and people typically turn to fossil fuels for power.

The British Airways Carbon Fund has helped to fund the replacement of two diesel-powered water pumps with a solar PV powered pumps. In addition to reducing the conservancy’s environmental footprint, the replacement of the pumps provides financial savings and improved water resource management in a drought prone area. Money saved by the project enables further conservation work including funding for protecting endangered species such as the Northern White Rhinoceros.

The solar pump house also acts as a WiFi hub, enabling broadband access up to 15 km from the pump. Local schools are able to use this WiFi for free, bolstering pupils’ education.

Carbon Fund example 2: KLAS Care, Renfrewshire, Scotland

A former janitor’s house which had lain empty and derelict for seven years, has undergone a six-figure refurbishment and is now providing much needed community space in a Renfrewshire town. The building, which provides after school care and is operated by the social enterprise KLAS Care, has become the hub for a growing number of community groups in the East Fulton area of Linwood.

The installation of the building’s energy efficient lighting, heating, hot water system and highly rated insulation was made possible by a £12,000 funding package from the British Airways Carbon Fund. A further donation of £5,000 from the British Airways Carbon Fund in the next funding round will see the installation of solar panels on the building, further reducing energy costs and helping the social enterprise initiative become even more financially viable, benefitting the community as a whole.

Supporting climate change regulation

British Airways was the first airline to participate in carbon trading in 2002 and has consistently campaigned for this policy across the globe. By working collaboratively with governments and industry associations it helped to develop the first global carbon pricing system, CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation). Under this scheme, airlines will buy carbon offsets, ensuring collective achievement of carbon neutral growth from 2020.

IAG reports detailed climate and emissions data through the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). In 2017, IAG was named the 'most improved' organisation in the UK in carbon reporting.

Noise

We are committed to minimising the impact of noise from aircraft activities on local communities and have set a goal to reduce the average noise produced per flight by 13 per cent by 2020 (compared to 2015). The airline regularly monitors the noise performance of its aircraft fleet and pro-actively engages with regulators, airports, communities and other stakeholders.

Air quality

Air quality is an important issue for the community living near airports. We are focusing our efforts to improve the local air quality on the following areas:

Using ground power where fixed electrical power and pre-conditioned air is supplied at airports to reduce the use of auxiliary power units on aircraft.

Investing in cleaner ground vehicles. We have invested in more than 550 efficient airport vehicles for ground staff and operations. In 2017, we became the first in Europe to use multiple automated aircraft pushback devices in a live environment. These Mototok devices replace diesel tugs and help reduce emissions generated by aircraft ground operations.

Waste and recycling

We have already achieved our target of recycling or re-using 50 per cent of our non-catering waste by 2020 and have now increased it to 55 per cent. We have also achieved our target of sending less than one per cent of this waste to landfill.

We recycle as much onboard waste as allowed by environmental and legislative rules regarding International Catering Waste and work with our catering partners to reduce the amount of catering waste produced during flights.

In 2018, a levy on single usage plastic cups was introduced at our headquarters, resulting in a 40 per cent reduction in usage. At the building’s canteen we have replaced plastic with china plates, ceramic bowls and metal cutlery, new cardboard salad containers, take-away boxes and wooden disposable cutlery.

We are inviting our customers to bring their own re-usable water bottles and cups on board, which our crew will be happy to fill on request. At Heathrow there are dedicated areas before security where bottles can be emptied, as well as water points where they can be refilled once airside.

Customers bringing their own cups on our shorthaul flights will get a discount on our hot drinks selection. Reusable collapsible cups are also available to purchase on our shorthaul flights from our buy-on-board proposition.

Our customers’ safety and well-being is always our top priority. We work continuously to make flying a reality for all and to improve our customer satisfaction.

Customer safety

Our fleet of almost 300 aircraft are checked before and after every flight by our highly experienced engineers, who have on an average 19 years of experience.

Additional support

We are proud to offer additional support to more than half a million customers with declared disabilities each year and are committed to making journeys easier and championing accessibility for those with physical mobility, hearing and sight impairments and hidden disabilities.

We are continually investing in training for our staff to help them to understand some of the challenges that our customers face when they travel and how we can support them.

We work closely with our airport partners to improve the facilities available to disabled customers, and the ease with which they’re able to travel. At our main base at Heathrow we have a dedicated check-in area and prioritise customers with special needs during times of disruption. We are working on new ways to improve the service and information we provide to customers.

Improving customer satisfaction

Flying is an exciting experience and we work hard to ensure our customers enjoy it. We are investing £6.5bn to improve the experience our customers have at the airport, in our lounges and on board, including new dining experiences and providing at-seat power and industry-leading high speed WiFi at every seat.

Flying with confidence course

We run our acclaimed Flying with Confidence course across the year to help nervous flyers overcome their fears. Over the last 25 years the one-day course has helped more than 40,000 people. The course provides attendees with the knowledge and techniques needed to overcome a fear of flying. The course is concluded with a short flight at the end of the day, accompanied by our fantastic team of pilots, cabin crew and psychologists.

We know our colleagues can only perform at their best if we look after their well-being, from physical health and mental resilience right through to financial health and social support. A dedicated wellbeing team works closely with our health services and a network of sponsors and advisors who champion wellbeing throughout our business. We regularly increase awareness of physical and mental health risks and provide a range of help and support to those who need it.

We understand that diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds enable our business to flourish, be more dynamic and continue to grow. Our colleagues reflect the many different communities around the world that we serve. From gender and ethnicity to our commitment to support our colleagues across the generations, we value diversity in every sense.

We encourage our people to celebrate and be proud of diversity. We strive to grow an inclusive environment in which everyone can thrive. Our commitment is embraced by our leaders, championed by our employee network groups, and supported by our relationships with external partners, including Stonewall and the Business Disability Forum.

As part of British Airways’ diversity and inclusion strategy we are committed to increasing the gender balance by working with schools and colleges to promote opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related careers. We also have an apprenticeship and work experience programme to encourage a diverse mix of new entrants into the organisation and to encourage a healthy talent pipeline. We work across the airline to promote stories of great female role models, as we did in 2018, with International Women's Day at British Airways.

Gender pay

The Government has introduced Gender Pay Gap legislation requiring companies that employ 250 or more people to report their gender and bonus gap. The legislation has specific reporting requirements and the reports for British Airways are available below.

As a global airline, we bring communities and people together every day and are focused on having a positive impact on the local communities we fly to. Our Community Investment team leads our social investments.

Partnering for Good

We have a charity partnership with Comic Relief, which we call Flying Start. Comic Relief is a UK-based charity with the vision of a just world free from poverty. During our flights we encourage our customers to donate any spare currency they may have. Small change makes a big difference. Alongside customer donations, British Airways staff raise hundreds of thousands of pounds every year through fundraising. Since the partnership launched in July 2010, Flying Start has raised more than £20m and helped more than 628,000 children and young people in the UK and in some of the world's poorest communities. For example, 100,000 children under five from Sub Saharan Africa have been immunised against five deadly diseases and 2,733 young carers in the UK have been able to join after-school programmes.

Helping during humanitarian crisis

British Airways is proud to be part of the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) Rapid Response Network, a network of partners called upon to raise funds quickly during humanitarian crises. The Disasters Emergency Committee brings together 14 leading UK aid agencies and by working together we help the DEC save lives and rebuild shattered communities.

Empowering colleagues to make a difference to a cause close to their hearts

Through our Payroll Giving scheme, we empower UK-based colleagues to make regular tax-free donations to a cause of their choice. In 2017, more than 3,000 colleagues donated £750,000 to 540 charities and we received a Silver Award in the Annual Payroll Giving Quality Mark Awards to recognise the airline’s commitment to workplace giving.

Inspiring the next generation

Our INSPIRE programme immerses students in the unique world of aviation and introduces them to a variety of different departments across the airline, providing them with a valuable insight into the work opportunities available at an airline. In 2018 we engaged with more than 15,000 students across the UK and hosted more than 600 work experience placements. Our programme has been awarded Gold accreditation by Fair Train, an organisation backed by Ofsted and the Department of Education, in recognition of the quality of the placements offered.

We also partner with the Air League Trust to offer gliding scholarships to give young people the opportunity to experience flying and do their first steps onto a flying career.

For more information on all our INSPIRE activities please visit our careers website.

British Airways is a signatory to the United for Wildlife Transport Taskforce, also known as the Buckingham Palace Declaration.

We are committed to:

Sharing any credible intelligence about high risk routes and methods of transportation.

Developing a secure system for passing information about suspected illegal wildlife trade to relevant customs and law enforcement authorities.

Notifying relevant law enforcement authorities of cargo suspected of containing illegal wildlife and their products and, where we are able, refusing to accept or ship such cargo.

In 2018 British Airways teamed up with Monkey World in Dorset to rescue a baby slow loris primate named Nora, who was being sold illegally in a pet shop in Lebanon.

The endangered primate had been prised away from her mother to be sold. When local authorities in Lebanon discovered her, she was confiscated and cared for by Animals Lebanon, who contacted Monkey World in Dorset to ask if they could arrange a permanent home for her with their Loris community.

Nora travelled as a VIP in the cabin on a British Airways flight from Beirut to London, so that she could be given the best care throughout this special journey to her new home. She was the first endangered animal to be confiscated under the new Animal Protection and Welfare Laws in Lebanon and her case will be moved to the courts for prosecution.

British Airways has a long and proud history of working with primates. We helped rescue Kan’bulo, another slow loris which had been smuggled into the Maldives and rescued as part of a drugs raid in 2014. In 2017, we assisted with the rescue of Mimi, an Orang-utan from Russia.